Examine3D Resources

Program Updates

Examine3D v4.0 Update History

Improved the way swap files are handled. Swap files are now created in the same folder as the Examine3D ex3 file and have unique names based on the ex3 filename. This allows for multiple files to be run at the same time and large file on large disk drives with lots of free space to run correctly.

Version 4.103 July 31 2015

Fixed a bug with plotting of user defined data and field points.

Version 4.102 June 15 2015

Increased the limit on the number of holes in a face from 50 to 500.

Version 4.101 March 24 2015

Updated the user data functions to include min, max, pow, atan2.

Version 4.0999 March 29 2010

Compute: Correctly computes the amount of memory on 64bit Windows.

Version 4.0998 12/12/08

Model: A file path limitation of 100 characters was fixed.

Version 4.0997

Compute Engine was built in debug mode causing dll existance errors and slowing down the engine.

Version 4.0996

Now supports multiple HASPHL locks on the same USB hub.

Version 4.0995

Added HASPHL hardlock support

Version 4.0994

Support for new Educational system. Updated program to use latest microsoft dlls.

Version 4.0993

Model: The number of nodes and the compute requirements is now calculated correctly for quadratic and constant elements.

Model: The Go button no longer disappears when sweeping a plane through a grid. The rate of automatic sweeping of cutting planes has also been decreased.

Compute: Huge models with quadratic elements in which the swap file exceeded 2GB would not run.

Compute: A priority setting has been added. This allows the user to lower the priority of the compute engine thus allowing other programs to execute faster. This is useful when running a job while doing other things on the computer.

Compute: You can now pause the computation process and restart it using a new Pause button.

Version 4.0992

Model: Direction cosines of principal stress directions now available for user defined plots. See the e3.cfg file for syntax.

Model: Invisible components no longer get surface contours.

Model: Better filtering of inside points for method2 filtering.

Model: Write Pts data now uses a standard file dialog.

Model: A new compact grid file format for DAT files has been added. You only require the values column and the COMPACT_GRID header.

Version 4.0991

Compute: Multiple files selected for computation would not work correctly if some had surfaces and some didn't.

Model: Saving of faces now faster.

Model: Extended the geo file format to support comments, object and component information. Now if you save a geo file and read it back in, the component and object information is recovered as well.

DxfGeo: Support for extended geo file format.

Model: Mouse wheel support for interactive zooming.

Model: Eye-Target mode now supports use of the view buttons.

Model: If normals are turned on then, they are now scaled according to the perspective view size instead of a fraction of the model extents.

Model: Faster Leaky and counter-clockwise checks.

Model: Leaky check now works with surface models.

Model: A new filter type called method2 has been added for filtering inside data points. (See Analysis Param...analysis options dialog). This method is more accurate then the default method but a little slower. It works well with surface models.

Version 4.0990

A bug with the intersection checking in the object check was fixed. Under some circumstances the program would crash.

Compute now shows the grid and the plane being computed.

Better resource management.

Improved nodelocking software protection.

Version 4.0989

Can now change the convergence tolerance and number of iterations in the analysis options. Default number of iterations now 500.

Fixed bug with normals in Interpreter.

Better filtering of surface data points.

Title of window now reflects the last saved file.

Improved performance for beige hardlocks.

Update to auto-update code and nodelock code.

Bug fix for network version and path path dialog.

Version 4.0988

Added the ability to define a gravitational pressure load due to fluid. You define the elevation of the phreatic surface plus the unit weight of the fluid.

Improved the network nodelock licensing.

Version 4.0987

Compute3D : The computed results for near surface excavations have been improved. Just make sure the extent of your surface in plan view (North, East directions) far exceeds the extents of your excavations.

Examine3D: Keypad now works for data entry.

Version 4.0986

Automatic update technology added. Customers with a web connection can run the Rocscience Updates option in the Examine3D start menu to check for new versions.

Nodelocking now possible.

Version 4.0985

The Object Check had an obscure bug for the counter-clockwise element check. If the northern most element was attached to an element that was exactly horizontal then it might not report clockwise elements.

Version 4.0984

The new mesh generation for the facing, implemented in version 4.0983, had a bug in it. This caused the facing in tutorial 2 not to work. It's now fixed.

Version 4.0983

Completely overhauled the meshing for the face generation. The program now grades the mesh by default. This can be changed in the Element Tools->mesh type dialog. The mesh can be either Graded or Uniform.

As a result of the new meshing, a long standing bug where elements might not be formed inside the face is fixed.

Version 4.0982

Fixed a filename length problem. Filenames use to have a limitation of 80 characters, now it's the windows 256 limit.

Fixed a problem with appending ex3 files with coincident geometry. If a file being appended had elements that were the same as the currently opened file then the program could crash. Also fixed some memory overwrite problems with string lengths in prompts.

Version 4.0981

Improved the object check for models with clockwise elements. Previous versions had trouble with finding clockwise elements and changing them to CCW if any element edge had more then two elements attached to it.

Models with more than 250 nodelines would crash. There was a built in limitation of 250 nodelines which has been removed. This did not affect the number of elements allowed which depends on the amount of free disk space (see the Examine3D FAQ #22).

Version 4.098

Engine now allows for multiple swap files. This allows for matrices larger then 2GB thus allowing for models with more than ~7500 nodes. However, the matrix size is still limited by the amount of free disk space you have.

Version 4.097

Windows versions of the utilities have been added.

Version 4.096

Multiple instances of the interface can now be run.

Inproved printing for users of Win95/98.

The mouse handler is improved.

Faster network lock performance.

Version 4.095

Network Hardlock support added.

Version 4.094

Under certain conditions, users of windows 95 would not get the file dialog when trying to open files. This has been fixed.

Version 4.093

Under Windows NT 4.0, users of the software required administrator priviliges. This is no longer the case, any member of the User group can now run the software. THis is not an issue under Win95/98.

Version 4.092

The isosurface volume calculator has been improved. It now reports the volume of rock and the volumes above and below the isosurface value. Precision has been increased as well.

Version 4.091

The program can now calculate the volume associated with a particular Isovalue. This can be useful for measuring the volume of failed material. To use it, create an isosurface as defined in the manual and use the volume and surface calculator in the Tools menu.

The entering in of a isovalue for isosurface generation was a bit flaky. Pressing a mouse button would cause the program to generate a 0 value isosurface. This is now fixed.

If the program could not find the e3.cfg file it would start up with the wrong interface colors. This has been fixed.

Version 4.08

Improved the slicing of geometry. The geometry slicer is now lightening fast, especially in the Interpreter.

Fixed a bug with the interpolation of nodes in Nonplanar faces

Improved the menu popups. They now stay open on a single click in more of the style of Windows. The old method works as well.

Version 4.07

Fixed a bug with writing Examine2D and DAT files.

Fixed a bug with reading DXF and DAT files.

Version 4.06

Fixed a bug with 256 color mode under win95.

Added two new methods for entering field points. One method defines a plane given a point and a dip/dip direction. The second method does the same but for a grid box. Also added a dialog for easier selection of the field point entry method.

In Quickshade mode you can now rotate the model interactively. To rotate the model, place the mouse pointer in the perspective view, press and hold the left mouse button while sweeping the mouse pointer across the view.

Fixed a bug with the DXFGEO utility. Polylines on layers named "Polyline" were not read correctly.

Added a sphere utility to generate a sphere with well shaped elements. You can use this to test the program if you wish.

Improved the Installation program.

Version 4.04

Applying a traction now gives the current condition.

The job description is now edited through an edit box that displays the current description.

The current file is now displayed in the caption bar.

Dialog boxes sometimes remained open if the application was closed. This has been fixed.

The user has more control of the memory utilization in the Compute engine through an editable dialog.This dialog allows the user to define the maximum amount of swap space that the program will use. By default it is set to half the total amount of RAM in your machine.

Version 4.03

A bug in saving files in the Interpreter has now been fixed.

A new web installation format is now being used.

Version 4.02

A bug in reading files with pressurized surfaces has now been fixed.

Web tools have been added to the main menu of Examine3D. This allows the user to quickly access our web site for updates etc.

A compiler optimization bug has been bypassed.

Version 4.01

Improved the Eden3 event density utility. It now has the facilities to orient the grid box and perform interpolation using out of core matrix solution.

Examine3D will now store the last folder you have read a file from. This reduces the time to navigate to your data files.

Examine3D now associates the .ex3 file extension with the e3.exe file. This allows you to click on a file to open it.

Flashing during sweeping of a cutting plane has been improved.

Zoom in/out and pan has been improved.

Version 4.0

Supports Windows 95/NT as a fully integrated windows application. This version is both faster in graphics speed (~10 times) and compute speed (10%). It is a true 32 bit application and is integrated with the windows framework making printing and image capture easier. You can view multiple models simultaneously as well. Windows video files (.avi) are now a snap to create. Virtual memory is now supported in the modeler/interpreter making it easier to model huge problem sizes. The compute engine now supports file queues and multitasking.